Humans of Telecom

"Once you overcome one challenge, you know you can face the next one. That's when I stopped being afraid!" — Nancy Aboushakra, Head of Messaging & Digital Sales at Bayobab, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a ten-year-old girl in Lebanon who heard that engineering is for men… to building messaging businesses from scratch across three companies… to closing landmark deals w...

"We didn't start a company and decide to give back. We decided to give back – and so we started a company!" – Wade & Koddi Dunn, Co-Founders of Love Mobile, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal A single mom. A single dad. A nine-hour online conversation that lasted until sunrise Eighteen years of marriage, seven children, two companies, and one powerful idea – What if your monthl...

“Life is an Adventure. Jump out of a Plane. Live your Ikigai. Find your Happy Place!” — Veni Folta, Chief Happiness Officer at The Inspired Action Group, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From Portuguese Macau to British Hong Kong to the United States… from a Category 5 hurricane that wiped out her dream job in a single day… to nearly three decades in telecom, two of them in international roami...

"I would tell my younger self – stop playing it safe. Be braver. Be bolder. And believe, really believe, that you are capable of more than you think!" – Mike Mills, Managing Director (Service Providers) at Gamma, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From handing out free internet CDs at a PC World store in the north of England… to discovering the company that built all the infrastructure...

"I have never once walked into a room and thought — I wonder if I belong here. And I want every woman in this industry to feel exactly the same way!" — Stephanie Lashley, VP Messaging Strategic Alliances & Infrastructure at Bandwidth, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a mother who came home and talked about telecom at the dinner table… to a young girl who grew up fascinated b...

"I stumbled into sales. I stumbled into Facebook. I stumbled into Singapore and met my wife. And somehow, every stumble took me somewhere better!" — Deepesh Trivedi, CEO at UIB.ai, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a small town in North London called Watford… to employee number 20 at Facebook's London office… to the front row of WhatsApp's global expansion… to now leading...

"I've worked in telecom, in modeling, in hairdressing. Every single one taught me the same thing — show up, stay calm, and finish the job!" — Natalia Derkach, Director of Carrier Relations & Sales at Nuetech Stack, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From the snow-covered streets of Novosibirsk, Siberia… to the neon-lit corridors of Seoul, South Korea… to the fast-moving world o...

"I want to learn early to slow down and enjoy the journey. Sometimes we spend many years focused on moving forward — and only later do you realize how important it is to pause, appreciate the process, and enjoy the moment." — Santiago Marquez, CEO at Wholesale Congress Series, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From selling ad space in a telecom magazine… to attending his first wholesa...

"I consider myself an artist! And early in my career, I realized — art and strategy have a lot in common. Both are about creativity, solving problems, conveying a vision, and making something interesting... or even beautiful!" — Gina Perini, Chair of the Board and CEO at SOMOS, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal What happens when a sharp intellectual property lawyer… gets handed a &quo...

“Sometimes your greatest journey begins with no plan — just curiosity, courage, and a leap of faith.” — Andrey Anikin, CEO at Alaris Labs, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal What happens when a linguist… becomes a schoolteacher… accidentally lands in technical support… and ends up building one of the most trusted telecom software companies in the world? You get a story like no other! In this epi...

“I didn’t chase telecom out of passion — I chased it out of necessity... But somehow, telecom became the nicest devil I could have sold my soul to!” ✨ — Polina Gardo, Roaming Wholesale Manager at Rakuten Mobile, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From studying analytical philosophy, logic, and existential risks… To navigating roaming wholesale at Rakuten Mobile… To finding grounding through nat...

“Learn to be a great teammate! I’ve played on teams where I was the best, and teams where I clearly wasn’t — and I learned a lot from both!” 🌍 — Craig Lennon, Global Partnerships Lead at Google, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From growing up on the Jersey Shore surrounded by the telecom greats… To shaping the way phone numbers are administered in the U.S.… To leading Google’s global partner...

"I want to live to 150, and make every year to count — full of passion, gratitude, and laughter!” ❤️ — Carla Oliveira, Head of Sales (Wholesale) at Go4Mobility, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From being born in Angola and raised in Portugal… To finding her calling in telecom — first in retail, then wholesale… From interning at Portugal Telecom to leading global sales at Go4Mobility… To...

“Scale sensibly to sustain — that’s the only way to build a lasting company!” 🚀 — Rajdip Gupta, Founder & Managing Director at Route Mobile Limited, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From bootstrapping Route Mobile in 2004 with just $2,000 and a second-hand PC… To building a $1.2 billion publicly listed global 'proficorn' (profitable unicorn) that is proudly 'Made in India, Bui...

“Even when life strips you of everything familiar, you still carry the power to rise again!” 🌍 — Vimal Odedra, Founder & Director at LiYF Limited, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From being born in Uganda and forced to flee as a child during Idi Amin’s expulsion… To starting over in England with nothing but resilience and hope… From building an IT career at British American Tobacco… To v...

"My wow moment hasn’t happened yet — and that’s what keeps me moving!" 🌟 — Mila Budylo, Chief Commercial Officer at BSG, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From lecturing in linguistics to leading one of the industry’s most prominent A2P hubs… From juggling three jobs in Ukraine just to make ends meet… To stepping — almost by accident — into telecom, and never looking back… This is th...

"Curiosity, courage and listening — that's what being human is to me!" 🌟 — Eva Gildum, Managing Director at Yaana Solutions, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a chance internship at Telia during Denmark’s GSM revolution… To learning the ropes in data & financial clearing at Dan Net… From employee #1 at NeuString (building analytics where none existed)… To today leading Y...

"You can sell a company — but you can’t sell the heart you’ve poured into it!" ❤️ — Andreas Felke, Board Advisor at IDM and AnyMessage, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal. From a chance encounter with mobile messaging in a Coca‑Cola sweepstake… to building IDM into one of Europe’s largest telecom aggregators! From selling it to a global player… to the rare moment of buying it back year...

"Life is not a race. There is always time to grow, and always a chance to start again." 💫 — Simona Maga, Head of Sales and Operations at Sparkle, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal From a small Italian town near the French border… To Brazil, Switzerland, the U.S., and back to Rome... From dreams of being a painter… To leading global telecom strategy at one of the most respected names...

“Mentor someone so one day they can be your boss!” – Sam Evans, Senior Managing Director at FTI Delta, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Founder of Humans of Telecom 🎙 Featured two years in a row in the Capacity Power 100 List, Sam isn’t just shaping telecom strategy — he’s shaping people, communities, and careers. In this new Humans of Telecom episode, we go beyond the polished boardrooms and...

“When there’s no space for you — make your own! When there’s no door — build one! Neurodiverse kids don’t need pity — they need opportunity!” – Gisselle Ramirez, Sales Executive at Shred-it, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal. From the bright aisles of RadioShack to impactful roles at T-Mobile, AT&T, Altice USA, and The Telecom Company, Gisselle has walked the talk in telecom! 📶 But that’s...

“If I leave this earth tomorrow, I want people to say I was truthful and compassionate!” – Richard Kwabena Asare, CEO at We2Stars, Ghana, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Founder of Humans of Telecom Today, we spotlight the story of man who’s lived many lives and stayed true through them all! In this candid episode, Richard shares how a childhood fascination with cars and traffic-lights led t...

Raluca Berchiu, CEO of CXM, shares her journey from Transylvania to Dubai, beginning with icy 5 a.m. swims and leading to the creation of a purpose-led business in telecom. In this episode of Humans of Telecom, she opens up about discipline, intuition, and the leap that changed everything. From childhood lessons on her grandmother’s balcony to leading CXM in one of the world’s fastest-growing mark...

"One of my guiding principles in life is a quote by the famous Roman philosopher Seneca 'Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come'... Be bold and stay curious!" Jason Bryan, CEO at ROCCO Group, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Founder of Humans of Telecom. In this enriching episode, Jason shares the incredible journey of a man who has truly lived the telecom indu...

"I tend not to live in regret, because I truly believe every life experience helps shape who we are today." — Tina Donaldson, VP Strategy at netnumber, in conversation with Anurag Aggarwal, Founder of Humans of Telecom In this captivating episode, Tina — an early innovator in the world of 'platform communications' — shares how a chance encounter at her mother’s charity baseball game and a lost bet...